The present invention relates to a daily diet management planner and method designed to be conveniently used not only by adults but also by children to effectively manage their diets each day.
Dietary plans and methods are old in the art, but none of those plans and methods provides a universal measurement system on color-coded cards for the user to approximate, visually or otherwise, the portion or portions of the recommended daily allowance of the specific foods as does the present invention.
One known prior art is a DIABETIC DIET PLAN AID AND METHOD, U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,622 comprising a folder having a front cover and a back cover each having an inside surface and an outside surface. On the inside surfaces of both covers, pockets designating a meal and day are vertically arranged. The diabetic diet plan aid has a plurality of color cards of food groups with dietary information such as caloric content, fats, protein, and carbohydrates listed on one side of the cards. The diabetic diet plan aid permits the user to plan meals more than one day in advance and allows the user to insert the food group cards in the pockets designating the type of meal and the day. However, each card in the diabetic diet plan aid lists a number of specific food items and doesn't list only one specific food item as does the present invention. Further, the diabetic diet plan aid doesn't provide a universal measurement system to measure the recommended daily allowance of a specific food item as does the present invention.
Another known prior art is a PLANNING AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR REGULATING FOOD CONSUMPTION, U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,241, comprising a plurality of independent, readily identifiable, movable members, each representing a pro-defined food group and portion and positionable with regards to meal designating zones for meals to be eaten in one day. The planning and control system for regulating food consumption allows the user to control and record the food consumed. As with the diabetic diet plan aid, the planning and control system for regulating food consumption list one specific food item per card and doesn't conveniently and effectively provide a universal visual measurement system by which the user can easily measure the amount of the specific food item allowed to be consumed as prescribed by the total number of calories the user can consume in any one day.
Another known prior art is a DIET CONTROL DEVICE AND METHOD, U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,555, comprising a booklet having a first cover and a second cover foldable relative to the first cover, and comprising a plurality of cards attached to one of the covers with each card being marked to represent a different day in the diet plan. Each of the cards in the Diet Control Device And Method includes a plurality of slits to form a plurality of individually removable and disposable tabs or splints. In use, one or more tabs are adapted to be removed from the booklet when the dieter has selected a particular food item within the diet plan.
Another known prior art is a DIET CONTROL APPARATUS, U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,316, comprising a plurality of individual containers corresponding to the number of meals to be eaten during a twenty-four hour period and having a plurality of tickets contained in the containers, which are redeemable for obtaining a quantity of specific food item within a food category and placed within a spent container for collection thereof.
Another known prior art is a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING CALORIC INTAKE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,218, comprising a food exchange list on individualized food counter tabs adapted to be removed from a food counter means to determine the caloric intake in a single day.
Other known prior art includes a MENU CARD DECK, U.S. Pat. No. 2,337,594, comprising a card deck having three or more cards, the first of said cards having an opening means, the second of said cards being disposable behind said first card and having a portion crossing and observable through said opening means, and the third of said cards disposable behind said second card and having a portion crossing and observable through both said opening means and said opening.
The prior art, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PLANNING AND CONTROLLING DIET, U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,901, comprises a planning board, a deck of meal menu cards,, and at least one daily totals strip. The planning board contains a plurality of columns representing days and each column has a plurality of spaces representing meals in a day. At one end of the column, there is a totals strip with information sections including indicia setting forth daily limits or goals for nutritional factors.
Another known prior art, FOOD EXCHANGES KIT, AND METHODS OF CONSTRUCTING AND UTILIZING SAME, U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,498, comprising color co-ordinated food exchange cards to match foods of the major food groups in a food exchange list. Self-adhesive labels printed with various meal designations are provided for affixing to the food exchange cards. The kit further comprises a third plurality of blank self-adhesive labels to be marked by the user with special instructions for application to certain ones of the first plurality of food exchange cards in accordance with the diet.
Another known prior art is a DIET PLANNING AND CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD, U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,164, comprising a plurality of sets of cards, the cards of each set having a common code, preferably a color code. Within each set there are a plurality of cards for each meal. The user can select on a given day a given color code set and can substitute freely to select any card within a meal group, and will be provided with information for complete meals on that day which satisfy the user's caloric intake levels.
Another known prior art is a MEAL SCHEDULING APPARATUS, U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,715 comprising a plurality of cards listing the ingredients, utensils required and preparation instructions for each course of a desired meal. The cards are arranged in a display device such that the timing indicia of the different cards are located for ready comparative examination and for initiating and completing the various processing steps for each course.
Yet, another known prior art is a TEACHING AID AND DAILY FOOD CONSUMPTION PLANNER, U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,603, comprising a display panel and a plurality of movable members mounted upon the display panel. The display panel has seven food group display zones across the top of the panel and six meal display zones across the bottom. Displayed on each of the movable members is a quantity and choice of food to make up one unit of food of a food group.
There is a need for a universal daily diet management planner and method which teaches children how to manage their diet and helps adults to easily and conveniently measure the portion or portions of a specific food without having to use various measuring utensils on hand, and which overcomes the problems of the prior art above-noted.